Felix bowed his head in defeat. "Children," he mumbled with a small, nearly inaudible laugh. He looked up when she said fifty or a hundred. Try four hundreds years more than latter and she'd be close to his actual age. "Do I look fifty to you?" He asked. "Or a hundred for that matter." Felix waited for her answer with a curious look upon his face.

________________________________________________________________________"The white soul can't protect you forever and the Flower will soon wither. The dragon knows the truth, and when the spirit of the water strikes it deal, darkness will rise and humanity will weep." ~Uriyuu

Suki started laughing at his expression. Adults were so funny. When he asked if he looked fifty or a hundred, she smiled and held up a finger matter-of-factly. "You're a ninja. Ninjas are good at illusions. So you could be very very very old, not just normal old!" She dropped her hand and giggled.

I am very old. 555 years old to be exact. But you'll never know that. And I wish this was an illusion. Some powerful genjutsu instead of immortality. Felix hadn't noticed he hadn't spoken for a good minute because he was lost in the though of his eternal curse. "Yes, we are good at illusions. It's our job, but I don't think I'd ever want to fake my age. It would require too much chakra and what if some nice young lady comes by. I can't be 23 one second and then 30 the next. It'd be odd."

________________________________________________________________________"The white soul can't protect you forever and the Flower will soon wither. The dragon knows the truth, and when the spirit of the water strikes it deal, darkness will rise and humanity will weep." ~Uriyuu

Suki looked at him expectantly as he fell silent, her head tilted a little. Why wasn't he talking? Had she said something wrong? When he finally spoke, she smiled again. Her mouth gaped at the last part, though, and she pointed at him. "So you're really 30 years old?!"

Felix shook his head no. "Of course not. 30 is an old number...." Surprisingly it really was an old sounding number to even him. That was immature for someone of his age, but he was lucky to have been turned at 23 instead of being 80 something like Kyla. Felix wondered how the old woman was doing these days. He hadn't been there to visit her in a while. She was the one who'd turned him immortal, the one who'd saved his life. He'd been thankful in the beginning until he realized that he didn't die. That he couldn't die.

________________________________________________________________________"The white soul can't protect you forever and the Flower will soon wither. The dragon knows the truth, and when the spirit of the water strikes it deal, darkness will rise and humanity will weep." ~Uriyuu

Suki grinned mischievously when he said thirty was an old number. "But you're going to be thirty really soon! In..." she stopped to count on her fingers. "In seven years!" she said with a nod. "Then you're going to be even older than old," she told him with a nod and a giggle. "And then I'm gonna be fifteen, then I can go to the Gear by myself for the festivals," she giggled happily.

Felix started to laugh. "Don't remind me." He said. "But think about it, one day you'll be old as well. Twenty three will come really fast for you." He gave her a grin and took a berry. "Unless these berries here grant you eternal life." Simple joke. He wasn't going to let it bother him. "Then you'll be young forever and never have to grow old like me." Felix simple adored children. They were the highlight of his days. He rarely bothered with starting a family. Life seemed to short for mortals, but every now and then he made an attempt.

________________________________________________________________________"The white soul can't protect you forever and the Flower will soon wither. The dragon knows the truth, and when the spirit of the water strikes it deal, darkness will rise and humanity will weep." ~Uriyuu

Suki giggled as he started laughing. She shook her head a bit when he said that one day she'd be old like him. "Nuh-uh!" She took a berry also and looked at it. "What if there are berries in the world that do that?" she giggled. "I'll look for them, so I never have to be old like you," she said with a nod and a grin. She popped the berry in her mouth. "And then maybe I'll give some to you, so you won't have to get older either!" she giggled.

Felix found the child's naiveness to be amusing in the upmost sense. She was so clueless yet smart. "You'd do that for me? I thank you for your kind offer but by the time you find such berries I would be old. I don't want to be old for the rest of my life and I'm sure you don't want to be young forever. That would mean no children or family. But you're a kid so stuff like that is irrelevant to you." Felix couldn't believe he was holding this typee of conversation with a nine year old.

________________________________________________________________________"The white soul can't protect you forever and the Flower will soon wither. The dragon knows the truth, and when the spirit of the water strikes it deal, darkness will rise and humanity will weep." ~Uriyuu

Suki nodded at his question. "Of course!" She blinked when he said by the time she found the berries, he'd be old. He was already old. "I'll just hafta find'em quick quick then! Like, real quick!" She laughed. She tilted her head when he said that she wouldn't be able to have children or family. "I already have family silly, I have my big brother," she said with a nod and a wide smile. She didn't need anymore than her brother.

Felix was known to be cruel, but he dare not tear apart this child's dreams and imagination. He wouldn't tell her that one day her brother would grow old and fade away. Tell her that he would not always be there to protect her. That was the innocence of a child. "Oh yes, I forget. Must be my old age getting to me," he joked. Felix took another berry and popped it into his mouth. "Suki, I bet you're going to be awesome in seven years." He gave her a grin. "I'm sure of it."

________________________________________________________________________"The white soul can't protect you forever and the Flower will soon wither. The dragon knows the truth, and when the spirit of the water strikes it deal, darkness will rise and humanity will weep." ~Uriyuu

Suki grinned and giggled when he said that it must have been his old age getting to him. She blushed a little in embarrassment when he said that he bet she was going to be awesome in seven years. "In seven years, I'm going to be playing my violin at the festival," she told him with a smile. "You can come watch me!" she told him happily.

Felix gave her a tiny grin. "Really, you play the violin? Why not play this year, or the one after. You're not nervous are you?" He wondered if he could actually come back in seven years just for the hell of surprising her by his showing up. Probably not. He had no idea where he'd be in seven years. Maybe half way across the world, or on some mission. He didn't know. Never did, he just went where he was told. Nothing else to do with his life but follow orders. "Regardless, I'll see what I can do about getting over here for your little performance."

________________________________________________________________________"The white soul can't protect you forever and the Flower will soon wither. The dragon knows the truth, and when the spirit of the water strikes it deal, darkness will rise and humanity will weep." ~Uriyuu

Suki nodded when he grinned and asked if she played the violin. "Well..b-because I'm not that good yet," she said a bit shyly. "And...I've never played for other people before," she told him with a small smile. When he said that he'd see what he could do about coming over to see her performance, she smiled. "Really? Oh, I hope you can come! I know ninjas are busy busy busy, but it would be so cool!" she said with a wide smile.

Felix raised a brow. "You're scared to play in front of people?" He shook his head in mild disapproval. "I don't believe it. I'm sure you're perfectly fine with you violin. Suki, you should always think of yourself as Greatness, and nothing less." He grinned. "Believe me, it works." His blue eyes shinned brightly. "And yes, I'll do my best." Felix believed in very few people. But this brown haired kid was one of the people he knew was capable of being successful in the future. If they were to meet once more then he expected nothing less that perfection from her. She would be Greatness.

________________________________________________________________________"The white soul can't protect you forever and the Flower will soon wither. The dragon knows the truth, and when the spirit of the water strikes it deal, darkness will rise and humanity will weep." ~Uriyuu

She blinked and looked at him as he asked that she was afraid to play in front of people. She smiled though, at his next few sentences. "I'll try." A pause. "No, I'm gonna be the best performance there, so when you come see me, I'll be great great great!" Yes, she had a thing for saying stuff three times. "And then, and then my music will make everyone smile, I promise," she told him with a nod and a smile, her lively hazel eyes shining.

Felix held out his hand to her. "Alright then, it's a deal." Most of the time kids held to their promises, unlike adults who usually became too engrossed in their daily affairs to worry about petty things such as promises. Felix on the other hand was one of the few adults that actually kept his word. He tried at least. He broke a few, but an apology usually followed.

________________________________________________________________________"The white soul can't protect you forever and the Flower will soon wither. The dragon knows the truth, and when the spirit of the water strikes it deal, darkness will rise and humanity will weep." ~Uriyuu

When Felix held out his hand to her for the deal, Suki smiled brightly and took it. "Deal!" she giggled. "But you have to come see me play, so I can prove it!" she smiled. She nodded. "I dunt break promises," she told him. She took another berry and ate it. The basket was now only a quarter of the way full instead of half, but Suki didn't mind. She was sharing them with her new friend, and there would be plenty more to pick later on. She wondered how long he would be staying in this spot for.

Felix nodded. "Good. Promises aren't meant to be broken unless it means saving someone else's life. And I'll do my best on getting over here." He would. But little did he know that it wouldn't be in seven years that he would see her play. It'd be ten and she would in fact be amazing. Felix looked up at the sky. It was starting to turn orange. He leaned back against his jacket and crossed his arms behind his head. Looked like he'd be without a camp fire tonight. No problem, he'd done this several years back when he had to travel to the Land of Glaciers. It was at least 50 below zero and too windy to make a fire, not to mention the barren ice land they were in.

________________________________________________________________________"The white soul can't protect you forever and the Flower will soon wither. The dragon knows the truth, and when the spirit of the water strikes it deal, darkness will rise and humanity will weep." ~Uriyuu

Suki smiled when he said that promises weren't meant to be broken except to save someone else's life. "I'm no ninja though, I don't think I have to worry about saving people's lifes," she told him with a smile, displaying a little more knowledge than she should have for her age. Yeah, she knew ninjas died, not a big mystery there. Even if she was a bit more sheltered than most kids. When he crossed his arms behind his head, she smiled. "How long will you be here for, Felix?" she asked. Usually her and her brother made some kind of cake or pie out of the berries after she found them. She was going to bring him a piece later on if he would be here still. She didn't want to get lost looking for him, no matter how cool he was.

Felix looked at her out the corner of his eye. "True." She didn't really fit the ninja profile anyway. She seemed more of the town girls. She would be the one that needed rescuing. Not the other way around. "I'll be here until early tomorrow morning," he answered. "Why?" Felix would leave around five in the morning, possibly four depending on how much sleep he was aloud throughout the night. Solo missions were dangerous when you had no one to keep watch.

________________________________________________________________________"The white soul can't protect you forever and the Flower will soon wither. The dragon knows the truth, and when the spirit of the water strikes it deal, darkness will rise and humanity will weep." ~Uriyuu

Suki smiled when he said that he'd be there until the morning. "Good." When he asked why, she put a finger over her lips. "It's a secret. But I'm going to bring you a surprise later today!" she told him with a smile. She took out a small watch from her pocket and frowned. "Aww..." She put it back in her pocket. "I have to go back now, but I'll be back later, I promise," she told him with a smile, getting up with her basket. "My brother doesn't like me staying out for more than an hour, so I have to go back home to tell him I'm okay," she said with a smile before starting away. "Bye Felix, I'll come back later!" Before she disappeared around a tree, she stopped and smiled, and looked at Felix. "By the way, your hair is cool!" she giggled before running off with her basket.

What could he possibly expect from a child. A secret of course. "Fine," he mumbled. Felix watched her get up and head off after explaining about her time limit. "I guess I shall see you in a few." He got up when she disappeared around a tree, but froze when she said his hair was cool. "Thanks?" He gave a small smirk and shook his head. "Kids." He pulled his bag upright and unzipped it. Pulling out a think sheet, he laid it on the ground and then he laid back down. Using his jacket as a pillow he turned on his side and closed his eyes. He needed to sleep, if only for a few hours.

________________________________________________________________________"The white soul can't protect you forever and the Flower will soon wither. The dragon knows the truth, and when the spirit of the water strikes it deal, darkness will rise and humanity will weep." ~Uriyuu

When Suki had gotten home, she ran inside with a smile, insisting that they start making the pie right away. She wouldn't tell him why though, only that it was a secret. When he sighed and shook his head, she knew she'd won. It normally shouldn't have taken long to make the pie, but with all the fooling around that the two siblings did, it always took longer than it should have. By the time the pie was made, two hours had passed and it was cooling off as they ate dinner. When Suki was done, she ate a piece of pie for herself, then hurried and put another piece on a plate with a fork. When her brother looked at her, she smiled and said it was for a friend before hurrying out of the house. After fifteen minutes of trying to remember where Felix was, she found him again, sleeping. Quietly, she walked over and set the plate down on an oddly and conveniently placed rock before kneeling down behind Felix, since he was laying on his side. She tapped his shoulder lightly. "Felix...?" she whispered quietly. "I'm back," she said, hoping he would wake up. She didn't want to just leave the pie there, because then animals might eat it before he woke up.

Felix opened his eyes when someone tapped his shoulder. Looking over his shoulder he saw Suki. And he also noted that the sky was dark. Why was she out so late? He sat up and looked at her and the pie. She'd brought pie? Felix kept his mouth shut to avoid saying something rude to the little girl. "Why are you out here?" He asked. "It's dark, and dangerous out here. Does your brother know you're out here?"

________________________________________________________________________"The white soul can't protect you forever and the Flower will soon wither. The dragon knows the truth, and when the spirit of the water strikes it deal, darkness will rise and humanity will weep." ~Uriyuu